The Russian forces have encircled the city of Bakhmut (the Russian name of the city is Artemovsk), the founder of private military company (PMC) Wagner, entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin said. His statement was published by his press service.
"The subdivisions of PMC Wagner have practically surrounded Bakhmut, there was only one road left. The pincers are closing. If earlier it was the professional Ukrainian army that was fighting against us, but today we see old people and children more and more frequently,” Prigozhin said.
Prigozhin also called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to give the elderly and children an opportunity to leave the city.
"They fight, but their life in Bakhmut is short — a day or two. Give them an opportunity to leave the city. The city has been actually surrounded," Prigozhin said.
Meanwhile, tactical aerial reconnaissance group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Birds of the Magyar received an order to leave Bakhmut, the commander of the group with call sign Magyar said.
According to him, the group entered the city 110 days ago and was now heading to a new location. It remains unknown whether the redeployment is connected with the partial encirclement of the city and a breakthrough in Ukrainian defence in several areas.
"Orders shall not be discussed,” Magyar wrote.
Earlier, the commander of Birds of the Magyar spoke about extremely high losses of the Ukrainian troops defending Bakhmut, and suggested that the command leave the city. According to one of his subordinates, the garrison loses a company or two a day and a whole battalion in a week.
"Bakhmut has become an idol, like the Fortress of Bakhmut. My vision of the situation is this: it's not worth it. We need to prepare positions, to roll back, level out the [front] line and hope, wait for those darned munitions," the commander said.
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